Device for repairing pneumatic-tire tubes.



A. R. HOEPT. DEVICE FOR REPAIRING PNEUMATIC TIRE TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.'3, 1910.

1,049,090, Patented Dec. 31, 1912.

- ing my invention. Fig. 2is a longitudinal TED %TAT opiates.

- ADOLPH R. HOEFT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR REPAIRING PNEUMATIC-TIRE TUBES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AooLPH R. HOE FT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Repairing Pneumatic-Tire Tubes; and I do hereby declare that the following. is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference bei had to the accompanying drawings, an to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to a novel clamp device for repairing the inner tubes ofpneumatic tires by which to press a patch havin cement applied thereto upon the injured part of the tire until the cement properly sets. Among the objects of theinventi'on are to provide a device of this character which will apply the cement setting pressure only on' the partof the tube to which the patch is to be applied, whereby the side folds of the flattened, deflated tube are not pressed together in a manner tobreak the tube at such folds; to provide a clamping device of this character which is equally well adapted to apply smalland larger patches; to provide a clamping device which will spread the cement uniformly over the patch and the adjacent face of the injured part of the tube, and to otherwise improve the device, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings,'-Figure l is a perspective view of a tube repairing clamp embodysection thereof, showing the manner of use of the device. Fig. 3 is a detail section on the line 3-?) of Fig. 2.

A device embodying my invention 'embraces two substantially identical upper and lower spring metal plates 10, 11 of generally oblong rectangular shape. Said plates are longitudinally curved and are arranged with their convex sides facing each other, said plates touching, when not under tension, along the central transverse axes of the plates. The outer end margins l2, 13 of the plates are offset from the body portion and flattened, and are located a distance from each'ot-her, with the margin of one plate substantially parallel to the adjacent margin of the other plate. 15, 15 designate screw bolts which extend through oblong holes 16in the flattened ends of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 3, 1910.

Patented Dec. 31,1912 Serial No. 585,010.

one of the plates and engage notches 17 it} the flattened end margins of the other p ate. heads 18 which fit under the apertured flat margins of the plate 11, and are provided with thumb nuts '19 which have screwthreaded engagement with the screw-threaded ends of the bolts and bear againstthe upper sides of the flattened end margins of the upper plate 10. Near the heads of said bolts they are provided with squared portions 21 in the manner of an ordinary carriage bolt to prevent the bolts from turning in theirsquared openings 16, and said squared portions of the bolts above the flattened end margins of the lower plate 11 are pierced by cotter pins 22 or other keys so as to prevent the bolts dropping through notched, flattened margins of theupper plate 11. The said openings 16 are elongated to permit the bolts to fit loosely therein and thereby permit said bolts to swing outwardly at their free or threaded ends from the notches 17 and thus permit the upper clamping plate'to be removed from the lower plate without the necessity of removing the thumb nuts 19. p

The manner of clamping a deflated fire tube between the plates to set a patch on a punctured or torn area of the tube is illustrated in Fig. 2. As therein shown the deflated tube 2% is flattened with the upper wall 25 thereof in cont-act with the upper plate and the lower wall 26 in contact with.

The screw bolts are provided with the upper punctured wall of the tube, be-

tween the tube and said plate, and is pressed upon said upper wall by said upper plate.

In repairing a punctured or torn tube, the thumb nuts are released to permit the screw bolts to be swung away from the notched ends of the upper plate, after which the upper plate is separated from the lower plate. Thereafter the injured tube is placed, in the flattened position shown in Fig. 2, on the pad 27 o f the lower plate, and the of the fact that the convex faces of sa d plates are opposed to each other when the device is assembled, the first pressureis brought to bear by the small transverse median portions of said plates upon the transverse center of the flattened tube, and at the patch which has been applied over the injured part of the tire. As the thumb nuts 19 are screwed downwardly on the clamping bolts the intermediate convex nportions of the plates which were first brought into contact with the tube and the patch, begin to gradually flatten and to become parallel with each other to press the patch on the tube. If the patch be a small one, but little pressure need be applied in order to secure the necessary contact of the pressure plates or members on the patch. The larger the patch the greater will be the pressure required on the clamping bolts, and the greater will be the extent of the flattening of the plates, andlthe pressure areas of said plates will gradually progress outwardly, as the applied pressure increases, from the initial median line of contact or pressure area until the upper plate is flattened throughout the entire extent of the patch. In any case, however, the pressure per square inch of area between the plates will be substantially uniform throughout the pressure area.

By reason of the normal curvature of the plates, (which curvature will be resumed when the clamping action of the bolts is released) it will be seen that at no time will the folded edges of the tube be subjected to a pinching pressure tending to break or crack the same; it being obvious that a tear extending across the tube would be impracticable to be repaired by this or any analogous quickrepair device. The progressive increase of the pressure areas of the plates applied to the patch has the effect of spreading the cement uniformly between the patch and adjacent surface of the tube.

y The device may be economically con structed, by reason of the fact that the plates 10 and 11 are practically identical. Furthernmre the device is light to handle and is exceedingly durable. lhe device may be made of spring steel, or any suitable sot't steel which is hammered to give the required resiliency thereto.

It will be obvious that the structural de' tails ofthe device may be somewhat varied within the spirit and scope of the invention,

and said invention is not limited to such de tails except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim asmy invention z- A device for repairing pneumatic tire tubes and the like comprising two curved spring members arranged with their convex faces together at the median line of the members and pressure means applied to the margins of the members to press the members upon an interposed tube.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I altix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 1st day 01 October, A. D. 1910.

ADOLPH n. nonrr.

Witnesses YV. L. HALL, WILLIAM GoLDBnnenR. 

